Fictional/real Brontës

Associated Press reviews Jude Morgan's Charlotte and Emily: A Novel of the Brontës (originally called The Taste of Sorrow in the UK):

It takes only a few pages into the new biographical novel "Charlotte and Emily" to understand the source of the Bronte sisters' dark tales.
The book opens on the evening before their mother dies, just the first in a series of calamities that propel the Bronte children to turn inward and seek solace in the imaginary world. Author Jude Morgan does a heartrendingly good job fleshing out facts from their life into a readable — and, sadly, realistic — story.
The two elder sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, step into the maternal role, only to later suffer humiliation and neglect at an oppressive school. They succumbed shortly thereafter to illness. Young Charlotte went from being a protected middle child to being the oldest, and, in Morgan's imagination, was compelled to lead her siblings in the funeral procession. Emily balked at participating, declaring: "It's just too awful." [...]
Morgan beautifully captures their passion for the written word, conjuring Charlotte's imaginary world and its characters, then explaining: "She should not think of them because they were not real, meaning they had no physical existence — yet how so? She had seen Zamorna standing at the schoolroom door and he had been real down to the last grizzled hair and the last twist of gold braid, while all the row of sighing pinafored misses and their slates and chalks and the very grammar-book in her hands were grey, insubstantial things wavering through cold dawn mist."
While the book's title capitalizes on the fame of the two most famous Brontes — the authors of "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights," respectively — it is more accurately a novel about the whole family, and winningly so. Their incredible story and Morgan's deftness in telling it make for a thoroughly enjoyable read. (Rasha Madkour)

We are glad the reviewer commented on how it is a novel about 'the whole family' really. We still can't understand the new US title, which is somehow akin to renaming Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' titles as just, say, 'George and her dog Timmy'.

Not so perceptive is the brief summary of Juliet Gael's Romancing Miss Brontë provided by Printers Row - a Chicago Tribune blog - included among the 'May romance reviews':

'Romancing Miss Brontë' by Juliet Gael. Ballantine Books. $25.00.
Charlotte Bronte wrote one of the most romantic novels in English literature, and yet she tragically never had successful romance of her own. Brilliantly blending the biographical facts of the Brontës with her own inventive imagination, Gael recreates the lives of Charlotte and her two sisters, their literary struggles and successes, and the man – curate Arthur Nicholls – who sees Charlotte for the true beauty she really is. Romancing Miss Brontë is an exquisitely written love letter to one of the literary world’s brightest lights, who finally gets the happily-ever-after ending she richly deserves. (John Charles)

We'd say that the whole point of the book is debunking the myth that Charlotte 'tragically never had successful romance of her own' and proving - through fiction but with actual facts - that she got 'the happily-ever-after ending she richly deserve[d]' in real life as well.

The Huffington Post lists 'the 12 greatest literary one-hit wonders' and both Charlotte and Emily are among them.

Why do we laud "Jane Eyre" but totally forget about "Villette"? [and then on the slideshow, picture number 9:]
The Brontë sisters may be swinging back into popularity and surpassing Jane Austen, but they will go down in history as being known only for Charlotte's "Jane Eyre" and Emily's "Wuthering Heights." Their sister Anne is hardly ever recognized, though she did write two novels -- "Agnes Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (the latter of which is actually really great!). Charlotte, at least, was also more prolific than history remembers her for -- she wrote three other novels, the most acclaimed of which is "Villette." Emily's "Wuthering Heights" was, however, her only book. (Jessie Kunhardt)

Well, they are not one-hit wonders to us, but then again we are openly biased.

Wuthering Heights Wednesday at: Views from the Page and the Oven and Book Chatter and Lakeside Musing so far, but there are more to come, for sure.

And we finish as we began, with Jude Morgan's The Taste of Sorrow, which is reviewed by The Beat That My Heart Skipped.

Categories: Books, Charlotte Brontë, Fiction, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights